An interfaith gathering and ceremony at the shore of the Delaware River for the protection of all waterways being threatened by fracking.

Philadelphia – Shale Gas Outrage, a two-day event endorsed by over 65 organizations outraged by fracking’s environmental impacts and unacceptable risks, will open with a press conference – unprecedented in Philadelphia – featuring individuals personally impacted by gas drilling. Families from Susquehanna, Butler, Washington and Jefferson Counties (PA), and from Texas will be making statements in person; impacted individuals include three farmers – one whose cows delivered stillborn, deformed calves after exposure to fracking chemicals – and an individual who has experienced illness associated with her family’s contaminated water.

Speakers will be available immediately afterward for interviews, along with Oscar-nominated Gasland director Josh Fox (who has interviewed impacted people in states around the country).

Protecting Our Waters, pushing for a Pennsylvania statewide halt on high-volume hydrofracking and for a continued moratorium on gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin, will host the press conference along with Delaware Riverkeeper Network. “These people with poisoned water are the canaries in the coal mine,” said Protecting Our Waters director Iris Marie Bloom. “Not one more fracking permit should be issued in PA. People are getting seriously sick and doctors don’t even know how to treat them for exposure to multiple chemicals.”

“Outrageously, the PA DEP spends as little as 2 to 30 minutes approving fracking permits – there are 11 environmental violations a day and not a single cumulative impact study has been done in the state. We say time to call a halt,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

Families throughout Pennsylvania’s “shale country” have lost access to drinkable water due to gas drilling impacts. Some have reported severe abdominal pain, mouth ulcers, vomiting, hair loss, signs of arsenic poisoning and other serious health issues as a result of water and air contamination. Farmers and others report dead animals and lost or threatened livelihoods as a result of gas drilling.

Protecting Our Waters is a Philadelphia-based grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the Delaware River basin, the state of PA and the region from unconventional gas drilling and other threats to drinking water, environment and public health. Please contact us at 215-391-1630 or abe@protectingourwaters.com.

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Protecting Our Waters is a tenacious champion for our air, water, health, farms and food against toxic unconventional gas drilling. Our work, which helps protects communities from the powerful fracking industry, is made possible through donations by generous people like you. Donate Now!